I’ve now fortified the chicken run, so hopefully we won’t have any more trouble with foxes!

Sad news today – a fox got into the chicken run overnight and took some of the flock.

Info on fruit tree swales, another Illawarra blogger, a cool tinyhouse, young people getting into farming in the US, wind knitting, and chicken tunnels.

Our missing hen returns with a pleasant surprise for us – four gorgeous little chicks!

Photos and a description of a very cleverly designed chicken coop.

Tender or delicate plants in the garden can be protected from chickens and other animals by simply placing an old birdcage over the top. It’s simple, free, and actually looks pretty nice!

Here’s an awesome YouTube video about Novella Carpenter’s urban farm in West Oakland (California, USA). It’s got a lot of great info applicable to growing food and raising animals (for eggs, meat and dairy) in suburban and urban areas.

Some sad news, I’m afraid – two of the three chicks that Girlie hatched have disappeared.

We’d left Girlie and the chicks in the main chicken run, since they had a safe indoor area that the rooster can’t get into (the entrance is just small enough that he can’t/won’t go in). Things had been going well, [...]

I was telling some friends at work about our new chicks, and when I mentioned that we were growing them out for meat they asked if our girls – aged 4, 6 and 8 – knew.

To be honest, we’ve been upfront with them since before the chicks hatched. We’ve been clear all along that these [...]

I’ve long had the feeling that more and more people are getting into things like growing their own food, keeping chickens, and living sustainably. But then my own interest in these areas has been growing over the past few years too, so I wasn’t sure if it was just that I was paying more attention [...]